This course introduces students interested in questions of
language acquisition to the theories and practices of learning to write in a
second language or second dialect. Topics include, but are not limited to,
theories of writing, strategies and genres embedded in western written modes of
exposition, writing assessment—individualized and standardized—for K-16 ESOL
writing, and other rhetorical concerns. The course exposes students to the range
of genres, rhetorical and discourse conventions of written English, and the need
to equip newcomer populations with the same range and breadth of written
literacy expertise as their peers. The course also includes in its focus a
consideration of the influence of L1 culture (home and school) on writing in a
second language/dialect, cognitive considerations in writing in a second
language/dialect, school-wide/institutional policies for writing programs for
ESOL/second dialect students, considerations in the choice of effective
materials for emergent to advanced newcomer writers, and finally, a battery of
best practices for teachers to assist ESOL students/second dialect users develop
strategies to monitor their use of and expertise in a multiplicity of English
genres, discourse structures and writing conventions. The course will emphasize
reading and writing in content areas as well as teaching writing.

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course you should have a strong
theoretical background in the issues surrounding ESL writing and have the
practical strategies for adapting different theoretical principles to classroom
instruction. Specifically, you should be able to

Understand and apply current theories and research in
language and literacy socio-economic background, and previous schooling in
the emergence of written literacy in English the 21st century.

Demonstrate an ability to plan to teach ESOL students
a range of genres, rhetorical and discourse structures and writing
conventions in English.

Provide appropriate and effective feedback on newcomer
writing in a bid to ensure the eventual mastery of fluent and accurate
academic language proficiency in writing.

Use appropriate technological resources to help ESOL
students/second dialect writers access and use these resources to help with
their academic literacy and their literacy in a range of content areas.

Develop appropriate and adaptive assessment techniques
to assess ESOL writing at the classroom level (i.e., self-assessment and
peer assessment in process writing, and achievement assessment in language
arts as well as other content area/genre mastery of written literacy
skills).

Design a teaching strategy that incorporates choice
and authenticity, while recognizing the various stages of English language
and literacy development, and the importance of ESOL students’ home
languages/dialects, culture, family.

Course Requirements:

You will need to read all assignments before coming to
class and come to class prepared to discuss them. You will prepare a researched
rationale for a unit plan as well as the plan itself concerning some aspect of
teaching writing to or using writing to teach other material to ESOL
students/second language learners and, using PowerPoint or comparable
technology, present a 30-45 minute discussion on your plan during which you
consider the theoretical and practical implications of what you are proposing to
do. You will prepare a reflective journal during the
two weeks, discussing and examining something that you respond to in
readings or discussions. The last one of these will be a reflection on the
overall course, what you gained from it and what you still need to explore. You
will finally take two exams, a midterm and a final.

Assessments:

30-45 minute presentation
10%

Midterm and Final Exam
30%

Unit Plan Rationale
20%

Unit Plan
20%

Reflective Journal, including Portfolio statement
20%

Attendance/Courtesy

Each class represents 10% of the entire course or what
would normally be 1 ˝ weeks of class; you should be here for every session.
Except in the case of dire emergency, missing half a day will affect your
grade. Full participation is expected. Please turn off any cell phones, pagers
or alarms before you enter the classroom unless you have an emergency situation,
about which you should notify me before class begins.

Academic Integrity

The English Department takes plagiarism, the unacknowledged
use of other people’s ideas, very seriously indeed. As outlined in the Student
Handbook under the “Policy on Student Academic Integrity,” plagiarism may
receive such penalties as failure on a paper or failure in the course. The
English Department recognizes that plagiarism is a very serious offense, and
professors make their decisions regarding sanctions accordingly.

Each of the following constitutes plagiarism:

1. Turning in as your own work a
paper or part of a paper that anyone other than you wrote. This would include
but is not limited to work taken from another student, from a published author,
or from an Internet contributor.

3. Including in a paper someone else’s original
ideas, opinions or research results without attribution.

4. Paraphrasing without attribution.

A few changes in wording do not make a passage your
property. As a precaution, if you are in doubt, cite the source. Moreover, if
you have gone to the trouble to investigate secondary sources, you should give
yourself credit for having done so by citing those sources in your essay and by
providing a list of Works Cited or Works Consulted at the conclusion of the
essay. In any case, failure to provide proper attribution could result in a
severe penalty and is never worth the risk.

Writing Across the Curriculum

Rationale Essay, Unit Plan, and Reflective Journal all
support the university’s policy that writing be an integral part of every course
and used as part of evaluation.